A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Soul Food When Ann bumped into Matt Neary again on the Metro North while commuting to Manhattan, it had been years since they had parted ways after their college romance. Matt, a periodontist, had three children from his first marriage, and Ann had Emily from hers. They married and had twins, Paige and Mack, now 14 and champion water polo players—Ann’s best friend Sue was again her labor coach and is the twins’ and Emily’s godmother. Ann traded the train ride to New York for a short drive to Ghurka and balanced work with raising her family and volunteering in her town, serving on various boards and teaching Sunday School. “It’s important for me to love what I do,” Neary says of Ghurka, a family-owned business that at the time still created their leather goods by hand in Connecticut. But fine things lose their shine when towers crumble. “I had an epiphany during the year following 9/11,” says Neary. “Matt and I were very involved in the work that went on after that. Matt is a forensics specialist and was down at the morgue once a week all night identifying remains. Through my church I volunteered once a week for a year at St. Paul’s Chapel near Ground Zero for a 12-hour shift overnight. I helped feed the workers and did whatever I could. All those late nights made me think about what’s important, and selling yet another fabulous business bag to a man so he looked good at a meeting really wasn’t what I wanted to do anymore. What I really liked was working with kids. I like listening to them, hearing their stories. I like giving them a place where they can tell their stories.” Neary, whose own father had changed careers to follow his dream to become an Episcopalian priest at age 68, took a hard look at the possibilities and decided to return to graduate school at age 50. With her family’s support, she enrolled in Manhattanville College’s accelerated teaching certification program in February and was ready to teach in September. “When she went back to school we’d do homework together,” says daughter Emily. “It was fun to see her start teaching. She got really into it.” Six years ago, teachers were in short supply, especially in New York City schools. When Neary completed some of her required observation hours at DeWitt Clinton High, she was “blown away” by the phenomenal, creative teachers she met 24 COLBY-SAWYER ALUMNI MAGAZINE Colby-Sawyer taught Neary the importance of individual instruction, and now she makes sure to get to know all her students and their abilities. and decided it was the school for her. “I pursued an assistant principal until she had to hire me. I used all my business skills,” Neary laughs. “I called, followed up, sent my resume, kept asking if there was a job. I had a contract from New York City and they can place you anywhere they want, so I was getting anxious. When you’re in business you don’t take a job until you have the next one, so the fact that I could have a job but didn’t know where, and might not know, until the day before school opened, was nerve wracking. Then DeWitt called and said they had a job for me in September. She asked when I could sign the papers? I was supposed to go on vacation that afternoon but I said, ‘I’ll come now!’ I’ve been here ever since.” Neary has always excelled at everything she does, due to her boundless energy and enthusiasm, her friend Sue Warner says, but deciding to teach made perfect sense. “Ann was great at retail, but it didn’t feed her soul. Teaching the kids at DeWitt Clinton has given her amazing, creative mind and caring nature a terrific—and very productive—outlet,” Warner says. “She’s so much happier and has made a huge contribution in a relatively short time in the profession.” Where the Boys (and Girls) Are “Teaching is very exciting. I like there to be something interesting every single day and that’s where teaching mirrors the retail world,” says Neary. “I never know when I open the door what the kids are going to come in like. Your plans could go right out the window because someone’s been burned out of their apartment or their mother got arrested over the weekend. They don’t have dads. They come in with amazing stories.” As Neary talks, her silver cross necklace catches the light, and her charm bracelet jingles. One of the charms is engraved with the word Hope, an emotion that fuels her work as a teacher and which she senses and seeks to sustain in her students. Though their daily concerns often revolve around the most basic human needs for food, shelter and safety, Neary Right: Neary’s creative writing class shared their original fiction about “Hanging Onto a Dream” and discussed the big difference that small details can make in a piece of writing.
describes her students as warm, friendly, affectionate and wanting to do well. “They really want to succeed. That’s what gives me a lot of hope for them. Almost all of them will be first-generation college students and they have the ability, it’s just a matter of whether they can sustain that knowledge to get to college,” she says. “Once they do, they’ll see they can match other students. I like to think that we, as their teachers, provide an environment that’s encouraging and makes them feel they’re good at what they do.” Ann Neary’s classroom is not a quiet place. “I like active, joyful noise so my room tends to be noisier than some,” she admits. The students are comfortable with each other and her, but also respectful and engaged—especially when she assigns the task of acting out Macbeth in 32 seconds or less. They break into groups and rehearse. When she presents a kilt for Macbeth to wear, a student named Kevin hardly pauses before announcing, “I will wear it” to applause. Vigorous sword play and dramatic dropping to the floor ensue, and it becomes clear these students know this play. The Next Generation—Ann Neary’s daughter Emily Orenstein ’13 How did you decide to attend Colby-Sawyer? I came from a huge high school and felt like a number so I wanted a small college. My mom had an alumni event and I decided to take the tour and ended up really liking Colby-Sawyer. I thought it was pretty and fit with what I was looking for. I liked the English program – I know I want to write, that’s all I’ve been interested in since high school. I talked to professors and the president and everyone made me feel welcome. My mom tried hard not to be biased; she encouraged me to keep looking at schools but Colby-Sawyer was the only one I looked at seriously. I’m having my own experience. I have my own reasons for coming here, it wasn’t just because she did. What does teaching mean to your mom? I can’t bring up her students and expect a short answer. When she starts talking about teaching, that’s it, it’s everything to her, that’s all she talks about, all the time. I feel like she’s just really connected with teaching. SUMMER 2011 25
Page 1 and 2: C LBY-SAWYER A L U M N I M A G A Z
Page 3 and 4: C LBY-SAWYER A L U M N I M A G A Z
Page 5 and 6: SUMMER 2011 A Winning Design to Hon
Page 7 and 8: Small Club, Big Ideas From their su
Page 9 and 10: Student Newspaper Goes Digital The
Page 11 and 12: PHOTO: Amanda Rossi ‘11 Since the
Page 13 and 14: A Life Shaped in Clay “Gerry Will
Page 15 and 16: A Poet Talks to Herself Assistant P
Page 17 and 18: By Michael Clark PHOTO: Ed Germar J
Page 19 and 20: class and wanted to jump right into
Page 21 and 22: PHOTO: Cindy Benson as her family a
Page 23 and 24: ut not as nice,” she says, laughi
Page 25: Once Lost, Now Found Growing up in
Page 29 and 30: don’t go unnoticed. “Ms. Neary
Page 31 and 32: Zebras graze in Lake Manyara Nation
Page 33 and 34: My study abroad experience was full
Page 35 and 36: more curious about what was happeni
Page 37 and 38: ness from dark and dangerous into a
Page 39 and 40: on Campus or eight years ago, we ha
Page 41 and 42: esponses to a new problem, and the
Page 43 and 44: PHOTO: Ed Germar and Malaysia. As s
Page 45 and 46: Above, left to right: Graduating me
Page 47 and 48: PHOTO: John Quackenbos Go Chargers!
Page 49 and 50: PHOTO: Robert Migliaccio Natalie Wh
Page 51 and 52: Alumni Fall Festival Thanks to thos
Page 53 and 54: from Colby! Let’s make it a great
Page 55 and 56: Take a vacation with your classmate
Page 57 and 58: 9 years, where a Centennial is plan
Page 59 and 60: show Dachshunds.” Joan Giglio Ash
Page 61 and 62: NJ. Last year they completed an add
Page 63 and 64: Take a vacation with your classmate
Page 65 and 66: Diane Rumore Woods ’76 and her fa
Page 67 and 68: Get involved with your college! The
Page 69 and 70: go back soon. Stefanie is living in
Page 71 and 72: Shannon Goodfellow Sherman ’00 an
Page 73 and 74: Mike “Reggie” Derr ’02 with h
Page 75 and 76: Stephney Anderson Gonzalez ’04 wi
Page 77 and 78:
Sarah Dow ’07 and Shawn Fleisner
Page 79 and 80:
IN FOND MEMORY SUMMER 2011 1931 Hel
Page 81 and 82:
Friend, Legend and Decorated Vetera
Page 83 and 84:
The Colby-Sawyer Alumni Travel Prog
show all

A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?